Daggers of Donaldham

The Storming of the Serpent Tower

Part the Second

22

APR/13

Betwixt their allegiance to the Donaldian Adventurers’ Guild and the enticements from wealthy William Needham, merchant Samuel and his frightening guard Bloody Nikita, and the mobster Hugo the Charitable, our wondrous heroes found themselves pulled in many directions, but each seemed ultimately to lead to the Idol of Hellaq. So the group went about preparing to storm the serpentine tower, ignoring the summons to meet with Hugo.

The next day saw I.D.10.T. complete his research into draconic mythos, to better prepare for dealing with dragon sorcerer Bob Sapp. He spent the remains of the day standing next to the town gate, occasionally spinning his head to entertain the local children.

The fantastic flying phanaton Sandra Quarrel obtained a magical Bag of Holding, to transport a large quantity of explosive materiel to the tower. Destroying it after the mission was complete had been a suggestion of Dagger leadership.

Dr. Vivus brought his Hydromatic Paroxylizer back with him to Findoogle the Purple’s store, where the two conspired to enchant the cannon’s watery ammunition with a Dispel Magic enchantment. Vivus promised to bring Findoogle notes on the project’s results as remuneration.

The secretive nobleman Landen, Son of Landen made his way to “Sais of All Sizes”, a local sai-selling shoppe. There he inquired about the possibility of purchasing magical sai. The shopkeep showed off some purportedly enchanted weapons, but somehow Landen knew not only that they were not magical at all, but that the shopkeep was being unfaithful to his wife. Landen expressed his dismay at the merchants scamming, and delighted in informing him that his infidelities were matched only by his wife’s, whom Landen had apparently been bedding. No sai were sold. Sigh.

Finally, Delano Kern crept in to a local gunsmith’s to inquire about a “scope”, which he believed would allow him to better see enemies at a distance. He explained to the smith that he would like to have such an item affixed to his “blunderbuss”, not aware that the weapon worked at much too short a range to take advantage of the scope’s abilities. He lacked this knowledge despite having a disproportionate amount of experience with firearms for someone who spent much of his youth in the throws of polio. Anyway, the smith was all too happy to attach a very expensive spyglass to Delano’s blunderbuss, nailing it together and painting the whole thing black for “stealth”. He then charged a very large amount.

Their shopping done, the coterie gathered to laugh at Delano’s gun. Later, they began their journey to the serpentine tower. The trek took them past Smogtown and into the Shadowfell proper, a dark and dreary demiplane of dread. Having scouted the area the previous evening, the group knew that something lurked within the high walls that surrounded the tower. Something large and brachiating.

As I.D.10.T. punched through the wooden gate, he came face to face with a dire gorilla, 10 feet tall and bristling with bony plates and spikes. The beast beat it’s chest in a display of dominance. I.D.10.T. and Sandra launched an assault on the creature, but the hits barely registered. Landen moved in and chipped away with his sai, but to no avail. Brilliant inventor Delano Kern threw a stick to see if the dire gorilla would be interested in it. It wasn’t.

It would be Dr. Vivus who would strike the first solid blow, aiming his prototype water cannon and blasting several important pressure points on the simian behemoth, triggering a change in it’s demeanor from angry to lethargic. I.D.10T. continued to engage the beast in fisticuffs, landing a crushing blow to the ribs. As the battle drew close to a seeming stalemate, the dire gorilla began twitching and jerking uncontrollably. It seemed to have happened spontaneously, but Delano Kern and Sandra Quarrel began to suspect that perhaps Landen had something to do with it.

As the great ape staggered, Dr. Vivus edged around to it’s back to gain advantage, but it proved to be disadvantageous, as at that same moment, Delano skittered up and struck with his spider-legs, toppling the gorilla onto Vivus. Delano was able to snatch the doctor out of the ape’s grasp, however, and as the coterie distracted the beast, Dr. Vivus produced a syringe of powerful sedative, and injected it into the dire gorilla’s hindquarters. After a few seconds of struggle, the giant simian fell unconscious.

Using their Knock Wand, the coterie entered the tower proper, and began their search. Behind a bookcase, Landen discovered a hidden room containing books of research, land deeds, art objects, and robes embroidered with the Sapp Academy crest. Truly, this was Bob Sapp’s tower! Further investigation found the lower rooms completely undisturbed for countless years, but higher level rooms contained smashed furniture and wild writings. The beginnings of rituals, unfinished spells, and maddened rants were scrawled all over. Apparently Sapp had become fully unhinged.

Ascending to the top of the tower, our face-meltingly awesome fivesome saw the target of their investigations – the Idol of Hellaq, all alone on a simple pedestal. Attempts were made to divine the arcane defenses upon it, but they were in vain. Unimpeded, Dr. Vivus began to spray the idol with his Dispelling Water, in hopes of breaking down Sapp’s wards. Three tries and several accidental fire elemental summonings later, the spells were all broken and the Idol of Hellaq was safely in the hands of Landen, Son of Landen…

Who promptly smashed it to pieces. As the others looked on in shock, Landen sifted through the remains to find a single card, showing an image of a comet on one side. Landen claimed to have been compelled somehow to do this, and became very obsessive about the card. The remaining heroes decided to gather the remains of the idol and see if they could salvage their mission. After they departed and were a safe distance away, Sandra Quarrel ignited her charges with a rocket, and flew away as the serpentine tower crumbled behind her.

Finally, as the coterie returned to town, they were met by Hugo the Charitable and his hobbit thug Harry, along with a number of toughs. Hugo was unhappy that the Daggers had ignored his summons, and attempted to negotiate the handing over of the Idol, regardless of it’s current state. The coterie refused, and Hugo left them to the “mercies” of Harry and the thugs. Vivus, Sandra, and I.D.10T. explained to the gang why it would be deadly to cross them, and all but Harry left fully convinced. Harry merely promised to kill the coterie in their sleep, but as he attempted to leave, he seemed to come under the attack of some unknown assailant. As Harry ran for his life, the Daggers looked on, and Landen could be seen to let a small smile spread across his face…